Simplicity: Outward Expressions (#1 and #2)

In Celebration of Discipline, Foster suggests ten outward expression of the inner attitudes of simplicity. These must taken as suggestions, as a help on the path to simplicity and the growth towards greater peace and not as a set of rigid propositions that "deteriorate into legalistic rules." In today's excerpt, I present the first two of the ten.

First, buy things for their usefulness rather than their status. Cars should be bought for their utility, not their prestige...Don't have more house than is reasonable... Wear your clothes until they are worn out. Stop trying to impress people with your clothes and impress them with your life.

Second, reject anything that is producing an addiction in you. Learn to distinguish between a real psychological need, like cheerful surroundings, and an addiction. Eliminate or cut down on the use of addictive, non-nutritive drinks: alcohol, coffee, tea, Coca-Cola, etc...If money has a grip on your heart, give some away and feel the release. Simplicity is freedom, not slavery.

Until next time: Live simply that others may simply live.

Simplicity: Inner Attitudes

I have recently picked up "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard Foster again after finding it in a storage box with a bookmark several chapters in. I had forgotten how much I like this book. I just finished reading the chapter on the discipline of simplicity and found a few salient sections to share. The first is about the inner attitudes that characterize simplicity. These, by nature, are more abstract but I think they provide a good foundation for what follows: ten practical steps for achieving simplicity in the 20th (now 21st) century.

Freedom from anxiety is characterized by three inner attitudes. If what we have we receive as a gift, and if what we have is to be cared for by God, and if what we have is available to others, then we will possess freedom from anxiety. This is the inward reality of simplicity. However, if what we have we believe we have gotten, and if what we have we believe we must hold onto, and if what we have is not available to others, then we will live in anxiety. Such persons will never know simplicity regardless of the outward contortions they may put themselves through in order to live "the simple life."

Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, Harper and Row (1978), pg. 77.

In the near future, I hope to follow up with the ten practical suggestions. If you have a copy of the book, it's worth another look at this chapter, and if you don't have a copy, what are you waiting for?